Brice McCain is latest injured Texans defender

Posted by Josh Alper on December 3, 2012, 4:23 PM EDT

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With 11 wins and a playoff spot sewn up, the Texans are sitting in a pretty good spot right now.

Their perch should remain good as long as injuries to their defense don’t start taking a serious toll. The latest addition to the rolls of the wounded is cornerback Brice McCain, who had surgery on a broken foot Monday. Tania Ganguli of the Houston Chronicle reports that McCain is expected to miss six weeks, which means he’ll either be joining the team at the very end of their playoff run or sitting out until 2013.

McCain started in place of Jonathan Joseph on Sunday, but has mainly been a slot corner for the team this season. He has 20 tackles and one interception. Joseph has missed the last two games with a groin injury and Alan Ball has also been banged up, which could leave the team awfully thin if things don’t improve on the health front.

The Texans played without linebackers Brooks Reed and Bradie James as well on Sunday and they lost linebacker Brian Cushing for the season several weeks ago. The Texans defense hasn’t really missed a beat, but they’d surely like to be feeling healthier down in Houston.

Not sure how good the Texans other corners are at covering the slot but losing you’re starting slot corner a week before you play Wes Welker is unwelcome news.

txtuff says:Dec 3, 2012 5:00 PM

“The Texans defense hasn’t really missed a beat”.

Really? I guess you missed the Jags and Lions game LOL.

They are hurting on D right now! McCain left early so basically you had 2 starting CBs out and Ball didn’t play who is the first backup. Then starting two ILBs that are not the starters at the start of the season, one just his 2nd game back from PUP. Starting a rookie in place of the starting OLB. That is 5 starters out of the game. Hopefully we can get J Jo back, but even if he does he won’t be 100%.

Last year was offense with the big injuries, this year it seems to be the D. But you won’t hear any of the Texans whining about it.

htowntexan says:Dec 3, 2012 5:10 PM

Next man up is great, but we’re so depleted that the next man up for corners on Sunday was Posey, the rookie wide receiver. I hope we’ve got someone we can pull up from the practice squad (or that Posey starts getting some snaps on D). . .

But I love what Mercilus is doing! Brooks Reed better get healthy… quick! And Barwin is officially on notice. Mercilus has played a fraction of what they have played and has more sacks than both of them combined…

I’m a Ravens fan. I remember when we used to beat the Texans pretty easily but now they’re the best ACT team and possibly in the NFL. I personally think a depleted defense is worse than a depleted offense. Look at my Ravens. We’ve always had an average offense but our defense was above average. Now that our defense has fallen off we’re not the same team.